Current Affairs Quiz - April 2022

Notes:
Belgian-Dutch racing driver Max Verstappen won the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2022. Max Verstappen won the intense battle with Charles Leclerc to take his first victory of the season.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez took third and fourth. George Russell finished fifth for Mercedes while ace driver Lewis Hamilton finished at 10^th spot.

Notes:
SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch launched the ‘Manthan’, a six-week long ideathon, in association with various institutions including BSE, NSE, NSDL, CDSL, KFintech, CAMS, LinkInTime and MCX.
It will facilitate the creation of a set of ideas and innovative solutions related to the securities market in India.

Notes:
Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced that the Centre decided to reduce the disturbed areas under the AFSPA in Nagaland, Assam, and Manipur after decades.
Centre had constituted a high-level committee to examine the possibility of lifting AFSPA in Nagaland – after the killing of 14 civilians in an army operation in December 2021. It has extended the ambit of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in three districts of Arunachal Pradesh.

Notes:
President Ram Nath Kovind recently awarded the ‘best state’ award at the National Water Awards 2022. Uttar Pradesh topped among all Indian states in terms of water conservation while Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu secured the second and third place, respectively.
Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, Thiruvanathapuram in Kerala, East Champaran district of Bihar and Indore in Madhya Pradesh topped in the Best District Category for the north zone, south zone, east zone and west zone respectively.

Notes:
The Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued orders to merge all the branches of the Films Division, Directorate of Film Festivals, National Film Archive of India (NFAI) and Children’s Film Society of India with the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC).
With this, the production of documentaries and short films, organization of film festivals and preservation of films are merged to NFDC, a PSU working under the Ministry.

Notes:
‘Guidance’, the investment promotion agency, for winning the ‘Best Investment Promotion Agency Award’ in Asia Oceania Region at the Annual Investment Meeting (AIM) 2022.
It was an initiative of the Ministry of Economy of the United Arab Emirates. Guidance, the single-window facilitation wing of the Industries Department of Tamil Nadu, has played a significant role in presenting business opportunities in Tamil Nadu since 1992.

Notes:
India and Australia signed an Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (IndAus ECTA). It seeks to provide -duty access to 96 per cent of India’s exports to Australia.
The exports include engineering goods, gems and jewellery, textiles, apparel and leather. The pact is expected to boost bilateral trade in goods and services to USD 45-50 billion over five years and generate over one million jobs in India.

Notes:
A report by the World Wildlife Fund showed that the illegal online trade of wildlife is growing in Myanmar, which is seen as a threat both to public health and to endangered species.
The report found that enforcement of bans on such transactions has weakened amid political crisis following a 2021 military takeover. Out of the 173 species traded, 54 are threatened with global extinction. The animals included elephants, bears and gibbons, Tibetan antelope, critically endangered pangolins and an Asian giant tortoise.

Notes:
World Autism Awareness Day (WAAD) aims to create awareness about the obstacles that people with autism face every day. Each year, World Autism Awareness Day is celebrated on April 2 globally to spread awareness about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
It is a neuro-developmental disorder that distorts the communication and social interaction skills of a person. This year, the theme of World Autism Awareness Day is ‘Inclusion in the Workplace’.

Notes:
The US-based National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has launched a Phase 1 clinical trial to evaluate three experimental HIV vaccines based on a messenger RNA (mRNA) platform.
It is the technology used in several approved COVID-19 vaccines. This study named HVTN 302 is sponsored by NIAID while the NIAID-funded HIV Vaccine Trials Network is conducting the trial.